Novo Resources Corp
Novo Resources Corp. (ASX: NVO; TSX: NVO) is a Perth-based gold, antimony and copper explorer with projects in Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales. Its flagship is the 100%-owned Belltopper Gold Project, about 5 km west of Malmsbury in Victoria's Bendigo Zone and about 60 km south of Agnico Eagle's Fosterville mine. In June 2026 Novo reported a maiden JORC and NI 43-101 Inferred resource for the Leven Star Reef of 760,000 tonnes at 3.6 g/t gold for 87,000 ounces, one of eight high-grade reefs in its Belltopper exploration target, and it is planning a 2,500 m drill program for early 2027. In Western Australia's Pilbara, Novo completed maiden RC drilling at the Wyloo polymetallic project in 2026, plans drilling at Teichman in the Egina Gold Camp, and regained full control of the Egina Gold Project after Northern Star withdrew from its earn-in; it also holds the Toolunga copper-gold and Balla Balla projects. In New South Wales it is exploring the Tibooburra Gold Project, partly 100% owned and partly under a farm-in with Manhattan Corporation.
Notable vs. Peers
- Trading within 2% of its 52-week low — weak recent price momentum.
Lifecycle Milestones
Not in place: mill, tailings facility. Not yet determined: grid power.
Combined view across 7 projects. Figures below are only combined where the underlying basis genuinely matches -- see the notes under each.
Jurisdiction (40%)9/10
Victoria: Fraser PPI 2025 is 73.81 of 100 (rank 34 of 68), which maps to 9 on this site's scale. Both Western Australia and Victoria are Tier-1 Australian mining jurisdictions.
Infrastructure (40%)4.3/10
No confirmed mill, confirmed road access, and no confirmed tailings facility at Belltopper Gold Project, Victoria, Australia; grid power not yet researched, counted at a neutral 5/10 until established.
Nearby producing mine (20%)Not yet researched
No project coordinates on file yet, so distance to a producing mine can't be measured.
Acquisition Susceptibility
A relative ranking of how closely this company matches the profile of juniors that have actually been acquired — not a probability, and not a reason to buy. Acquisitions are rare: only a few dozen significant deals happen a year across a universe of thousands of juniors, so even a high score here describes a long shot. The strongest signal in the research, a producer that already owns part of the company, is scored from its disclosed strategic shareholders. A producer that is a joint-venture or earn-in partner on the project, rather than a shareholder, isn't captured yet.
How this score is built
- Disclosed pending dealSub-score: Not scored
No pending acquisition or merger disclosed (checked)
Not scored: having no deal in flight isn't held against a company.
Weight 26.25% - Producer's strategic stakeSub-score: Not scored
No producer holds a disclosed stake on file (holder register researched) See holders
Not scored: most juniors that do get bought had no prior toehold, so a missing stake says little either way.
Weight 25% - Distance to a producing mineSub-score: Not yet researched
Distance not yet researched: no project coordinates on file
Distance can't be measured without coordinates, so excluded rather than counted as far.
Weight 22.5% - Lifecycle stageSub-score:3.5/10
Stage: Resource Definition
Feasibility and permitting score 10, where deals cluster, and production 5.5; earlier stages score less, down to 1 at grassroots.
Weight 15% · 57% here - JurisdictionSub-score:9/10
Australia: jurisdiction score 9/10
Our jurisdiction score, used as is: higher means lower political and permitting risk.
Weight 6.75% · 26% here - CommoditySub-score:10/10
Primary commodity: Gold
Gold 10, copper 8, silver 5, nickel and uranium 4, others 2: most majors' deals are for gold.
Weight 4.5% · 17% here
Weight is each input's share of the full score. “Here” is its share of this company's score: inputs that aren't scored are left out and the rest re-weighted, never counted as zero.
Your Rankings
Management Team
Mining engineer with over 20 years of experience across lead, zinc, uranium, copper, gold, and iron ore, holding an undergraduate degree (1986) from The University of Queensland and an MBA from Deakin University; Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Held General Manager - Mining at WMC Resources, Vice President - Mining for BHP Billiton at the Olympic Dam mine, and General Manager - Coastal Operations for Rio Tinto overseeing Pannawonica and port operations. Served as CEO of Metals X Limited and as Managing Director & CEO of Nusantara Resources. Currently Executive Co-Chairman and acting CEO of Novo Resources Corp.
Non-Executive Co-Chairman of Novo Resources Corp and a director of Condor Resources Inc., Electric Metals (USA) Limited, Silver Bow Mining Corp., Eskay Mining Corp. and Barksdale Resources Corp. Economic geologist with a PhD in Geology/Geochemistry from the Colorado School of Mines, whose early career included exploration roles at Homestake Mining, Newcrest Mining, and Newmont Mining, rising to chief geologist at Newmont by 2004. Moved into the junior mining sector in 2007, including work at Gold Canyon Resources leading exploration of the ~5 million ounce Springpole gold project near Red Lake, Ontario. Helped start Novo Resources in 2010 and built out its Australian exploration portfolio, later serving as President and Co-Chairman.
Insiders, Investors & Smart Money
Notable shareholders and insiders whose involvement is worth knowing about, plus what we're seeing from institutional/large-investor activity.
Northern Star Resources, one of Australia's largest gold producers, is Novo's biggest shareholder at about 9.87% and put fresh cash in through the roughly A$8.2M placement completed in May 2026. The same month, though, Northern Star walked away from the Egina earn-in after spending its initial A$7M rather than commit the further A$18M — so Novo has its Pilbara ground back, and the producer's money stayed while its drilling commitment did not. Behind Northern Star the register is thin but real: Mark Creasy's group at 3.75%, Palisades at 2.30%, and Sumitomo still on the list at 0.76%.
No notable insiders tracked for this miner yet.
Reports, Presentations & Documents
Novo Resources is a gold, antimony and copper explorer whose flagship is the 100%-owned Belltopper gold project, about 5km west of Malmsbury in Victoria's Bendigo Zone and about 60km south of Agnico Eagle's Fosterville mine. In June 2026 Novo reported a maiden, entirely inferred resource for Belltopper's Leven Star Reef of 760,000 t at 3.6 g/t for 87,000 oz of gold above a 1.9 g/t cut-off for underground mining, from one of eight high-grade reefs in its Belltopper exploration target, and it is planning a 2,500m drill program for early 2027. In Western Australia's Pilbara, Novo completed maiden reverse-circulation drilling at the Wyloo polymetallic project in 2026, including 16 holes for 2,615m at Wyloo SE, and regained full control of the Egina gold project after Northern Star withdrew from its earn-in. It also holds 70% of the Teichman project in the Egina Gold Camp, the Toolunga copper-gold and Balla Balla projects, and the Tibooburra gold project in New South Wales, partly 100%-owned and partly under a farm-in with Manhattan Corporation that gives Novo an option to acquire 70%.